Having earlier this year installed nine Trumpf (
www.uk.trumpf.com) CNC press brakes, Newcastle-under-Lyme sheet-metal sub-contractor KMF (
www.kmf.co.uk) has now placed an order worth £840,000 for a further five Trumpf bending machines, two of which are fully automated.
The machines ordered are a TruBend 5170 with BendMaster 60 handling robot, a fully automated Trubend Cell 7000, two TruBend 7036 models and a Trubend 5130X with an extended opening height of 615mm.
Keith Nicholl, KMF’s business development manager, said: “These latest five machines were very much planned. A new automated press brake has been on the cards for a while, as we wanted to replace two 12-year-old automated bending machines from another supplier. They were starting to give performance issues, including increased downtime and longer set-up times.”
With its 4,250mm bending length and 1,700kN press force, the TruBend 5170 will be used by KMF to bend large parts; the associated BendMaster 60 robot turns, which can handle a maximum load of 60kg, allows this versatile press brake to accommodate the widest possible range of parts.
Mr Nicholl added: “We also wanted an automated bending cell for our smaller parts, hence the selection of the TruBend Cell 7000. This accommodates parts up to 500 x 380mm, which covers 70% of the components we produce and means we won’t have to use a 3m press brake to produce 20mm parts.”
The two 1.2m TruBend 7036 electric press brakes, which will replace four 2m models from another supplier, are much faster and better suited to small parts.
Meanwhile, the Trubend 5130X with 615mm opening height will complement two identical models already on site. One of the existing machines will be transferred to KMF’s training department.
Formed in 1971, the company is still under the management of its founding directors and has grown into one of the UK’s largest and most successful sheet-metal fabricating firms. It has a 110,000ft2 modern facility, 350 employees and annual sales in excess of £30 million.